Mount Sinai Medical Center With Isilon NAS

Isilon Systems, Inc. announced that Mount Sinai School of Medicine‘s Genomics Institute and Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences has deployed Isilon scale-out NAS as the primary repository for its next-generation DNA sequencing and analysis workflow.

Using the Isilon IQ X-Series, Mount Sinai has unified its Illumina genome sequencers and analysis applications onto a single, shared storage repository, streamlining data access to accelerate time-to-discovery, while reducing capital and operating expenses. With Isilon IQ, Mount Sinai can provide researchers from many different locations access to its valuable stores of genomic data, enabling new levels of collaboration in identifying the genetic precursors to human disease.  

"With the introduction of next-generation sequencing technology, we experienced a rapid increase in both the amount of genetic information being produced and the demand for this data within our research community," said Ravi Sachidanandam, assistant professor of genetics and genomic sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "To meet these demands, we needed an easily scalable storage solution that could provide concurrent data access without significant oversight. Traditional storage couldn’t cut it, but Isilon delivered, enabling our researchers to work more effectively and collaboratively across a wide range of projects."  

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Mount Sinai Hospital, which ranked in the top 20 of the U.S. News & World Report 2009-2010 America’s Best Hospitals issue and 18th in NIH funding. In its efforts to identify more effective treatments for human disease, Mount Sinai’s new Genomics Institute and Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences employs Illumina DNA sequencers and genomic data analysis applications generating more than one terabyte (TB) of data per sequencing run, with multiple runs taking place each day. Using traditional SAN or NAS storage to support its sequencing workflow, Mount Sinai was forced to migrate genetic information back and forth between disparate systems, delaying access to mission-critical data sets and limiting researchers’ ability to collaborate effectively.

By deploying Isilon scale-out NAS, featuring its OneFS operating system, Mount Sinai now has a single, unified storage resource for its entire sequencing workflow, enabling it to create a centralized web portal for researchers from different locations to simultaneously access its genomic data stores. Using Isilon’s SmartQuotas data management software application, Mount Sinai can provision its Isilon cluster across multiple research groups and projects, enabling highly concurrent data access to improve productivity and increase collaboration. Additionally, as Isilon IQ creates a single file system that requires less than one full-time equivalent (FTE) to manage, Mount Sinai can accelerate time-to-discovery, while at the same time reducing storage management time and costs.  

"The Mount Sinai School of Medicine has been a driving force in medical research and treatment for more than 150 years and is continuing that tradition today with its pursuits in genomic research," said Sam Grocott, vice president of marketing, Isilon Systems. "By using Isilon scale-out NAS to drive increased collaboration among today’s leading medical researchers, Mount Sinai is demonstrating the compelling productivity and efficiency benefits Isilon IQ can deliver for highly concurrent file-based applications."